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Kenneth Kendall (7 August 1924 – 14 December 2012) was a British broadcaster. He worked for many years as a newsreader for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, where he was a contemporary of fellow newsreaders Richard Baker and
Robert Dougall Robert Dougall, MBE (27 November 1913 – 18 December 1999) was an English broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer. Early life and radio broadcasting Dougall was born and educated in Croydon, Surrey. He a ...
. He is also remembered as the host of the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
game show '' Treasure Hunt'', which ran between 1982 and 1989, as well as the host of ''
The World Tonight ''The World Tonight'' is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on dome ...
'' in the 1968 science fiction film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''.


Early life

Kendall was born in India where his father, Frederic William Kendall (d. 30 May 1945), worked. He was brought up in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. Kendall was educated at
Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...
in Essex, England. He read Modern Languages at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...
, for one year before being called up to the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
.


Military service

Kendall joined the
Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...
where he was commissioned as a lieutenant. He arrived in
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
ten days after
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
but was wounded about a month later. In 1945, he was among 100,000 British military personnel sent to
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. In 1946, he was demobilised from the Guards as a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
.


Broadcasting career

After leaving the army, Kendall returned to Oxford to complete his Modern Language degree. He hoped to join the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...
but instead joined the BBC in 1948 as a radio newsreader. In 1954, he transferred to television. Although he was not the first newsreader on BBC television, Kendall was the first to appear in front of a camera reading the news in 1955. As he was employed on a freelance basis by the BBC, he also worked as an actor for a
repertory company A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
based in
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
, and briefly at the menswear retailer Austin Reed in
Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...
, where he met actor
John Inman Frederick John Inman (28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007) was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in '' Are You Being Served?'', a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and was the only actor from that series to featu ...
and offered him a job in the Crewe theatre company. Kendall became known for his elegant dress sense and was voted best-dressed newsreader by ''Style International'' and No.1 newscaster by ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' readers in 1979. He left the BBC in 1961, and from 1961 to 1969 was a freelance newsreader, working occasionally for ITN and presenting
Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
's ''Day By Day''. He appeared as himself in the ''
Adam Adamant ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from '' Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adventu ...
'' episode "The Doomsday Plan", in which he is kidnapped and impersonated. He also appeared in the ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' serial ''
The War Machines ''The War Machines'' is the ninth and final serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in 4 weekly parts from 25 June to 16 July 1966. The serial is set in 1960s London ...
''. He rejoined the BBC in 1969 and finally retired from newsreading on 23 December 1981. Kendall's retirement allowed him to work on the popular
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
programme '' Treasure Hunt'' throughout its first run (1982–1989), which featured
Anneka Rice Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice (born 4 October 1958), known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh-born television and radio presenter, broadcaster, journalist and painter. Early life and education Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wales, ...
as a "skyrunner". He also presented the television programme ''
Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...
''.


Later life

Soon after retirement from news reading, Kendall lent his voice to the
BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...
as part of
Acorn Computers Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the United Kingdom, UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archi ...
' hardware speech synthesis system. In 2010 he took part in BBC's series ''The Young Ones'' in which six well-known people in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s.


Personal life

Kendall lived in
Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...
on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
with his partner Mark Fear, whom he had been with since 1989. Fear was the owner of a marine art gallery and a
beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...
. The couple entered into a
civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
in 2006.


Death

Kendall died on 14 December 2012, following a
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
a few weeks previously. On 29 April 2013, his partner Mark Fear was found hanged aged 55. An inquest concluded that he had died by suicide because he was "overcome by grief".


Filmography

*''
The Reckless Moment ''The Reckless Moment'' is a 1949 American film noir melodrama directed by Max Ophüls, produced by Walter Wanger, and released by Columbia Pictures with Burnett Guffey as cinematographer. It starred James Mason and Joan Bennett. The film is based ...
'' (1949) – Man (uncredited) *'' Scotland Yard Evidence in Concrete (1961)'' TV news reader on Decca television screen *''
The Brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ i ...
'' (1962) – TV Newscaster (uncredited) *''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
:
The War Machines ''The War Machines'' is the ninth and final serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in 4 weekly parts from 25 June to 16 July 1966. The serial is set in 1960s London ...
(1966) – Himself (Credited, TV cameo) *''
They Came from Beyond Space ''They Came from Beyond Space'' is a 1967 British Eastman Color science fiction film produced by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, and directed by Freddie Francis. The screenplay was written by Subotsky, based on the 1941 novel '' The Go ...
'' (1967) – Commentator *''The Exorcism'' – from the ''
Dead of Night ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie W ...
'' BBC TV series. (1972) (Credited) *'' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) – BBC-12 Announcer (uncredited)


References


External links

*
Interview with Kenneth Kendall in 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendall, Kenneth 1924 births 2012 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford BBC newsreaders and journalists British Army personnel of World War II British game show hosts British male journalists Coldstream Guards officers LGBT broadcasters from the United Kingdom LGBT journalists from the United Kingdom People educated at Felsted School Television personalities from Cornwall Gay military personnel British people in colonial India